Wuchang, Jan. 14.
Your correspondent has been away for some days in North China and on his return found that the student body in this centre had for a time suspended their anti-Japanese campaign and had taken up the cudgels against the Tuchun of Hunan on account of his importation of poppy seeds into his province. It appears that some five tons of these seeds had been landed in bags at the railway terminus in Wuchang in order to be shipped off to Changsha. The Students' Union heard of this and in order to give publicity to the affair tried to take a photograph of the freight. Unfortunately they found a guard of Northern soldiers around the waggons and the military seized their camera, going as far as to take out the films. In spite of protests from the student body and others, the goods were sent off to the southern province and there the matter rests for the present, though I don't think we have yet heard the last of it.
One feels in this case the students and acted in Tf they can do anything to stop the re-introduetion of the drug into their native land they will have the sympathy of every right-thinking—person, Chinese and foreigner. The matter brought up some acrimonious correspondence in the local press, certain persons affirming that it was the fault of the Customs authorities in allowing the seeds to be sent on and some of the Customs officials declaring that the matter was outside their province.
In spite of several recent attempts on the part of the Students' Union to kold meetings for propaganda purposes, the Wu-Han officials have kept firm to their purpose to stop all such gatherings and have gone as far as to appoint a special man to see that their wishes were kept. Parts of the city of Wuchang, where the schoolborvs are wont to foregather for the purpose of practising their oratorical efforts have been specially patrolled. The latest news is that the federation have decided to suspend their usual Saturday mass meetings or attempts until after the New Year holidays.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.